A Syrian Golan will become a terror base, expert says

Friday, May 30, 2008 |
staff writer

Far from actual peace, if Israel gave the Golan Heights to Syria, the Jewish state would be looking at a terrorist base camp as a neighbor, according to Arab affairs expert Guy Bechor of the Interdisciplinary Center in Herzliya.

“From being an empty buffer zone, the Golan Heights will turn into a crowded anti-Israel region for generations to come. From being a strategic asset to Israel, the Golan will turn into a burden on top of the other regional efforts to eliminate Israel,” he wrote. “Our future generations will not forgive anyone who would do that.”

Bechor, who wrote an article published in Ynetnews, said that Syrian President Bashar Assad has apparently already announced that any Syrian resident who moves to the Golan will receive a government allowance. Should terror attacks be launched on Israel from Syrian, Assad, much like Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, will be able to blame extremist groups.

In the article, Bechor predicts that a peace deal with Israel will precipitate Assad’s downfall. He outlines three destructive steps that would follow a withdawal: up to one million Syrian residents would immediately be resettled in the Golan; Syria would be as subversive with Israel as it is with Lebanon despite ‘friendship’ between the two nations; and Assad himself will fall allowing for a more dangerous regime to be Israel’s next-door neighbor.

“The Golan Heights will turn into the radical spearhead against Israel, and not only from Syria. People will be coming from Iran, Afghanistan and elsewhere,” he warns. “Terrorism will be two-pronged both from the Golan and from Lebanon. Life in the north will turn into an unbearable nightmare, yet the situation will be irreversible.”

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